I think that a knife of 3/16 ths would fit any bill as it is still thick enough to chop and baton and thinner to slice. I as most of us here have thick 1/4 knives as well as thin 1/8 and of course they get used for different things. I like my DM the way it is for what I use it for as it is my small, woods wandering knife meant to tackle things that do not need the fine cutting ability. As long as it can split kindling and cut string and pry dry wood I am fine. I am not usually cutting tomatoes out in the woods.

That being said I think a 3/16 knife DM size or bigger would do just as well with SR77 steel or any fine steel out there..... Just another excuse for myself to buy more, great knives! Then it would fill the niche for when a fine slice is needed. I think that the DM is great for general daily woods wandering and the 3/16 would be the camp knife when longer stays in the woods means that different tasks would need to be completed. Also, as long as it is made of good steel/rockwell a 3/16ths blade can baton just as well and sometimes better that the thicker blades.

But in the end it comes down to personal taste. Currently I will have another knife forged from a local smith with a 9 inch blade that will be 3/16ths thick. I will use it for chopping and batoning. I also just made an Nessmuk that is about an 1/8th think and believe it or not that small blade can not only slice very well but split kindling as well. However I do not plan on using it for the kindling purpose, I was just testing it.